Party Political Broadcasts

Abstract

Political parties benefit from a unique privilege denied to anyone else trying to influence the public. Although unable to pay for advertising on television or radio, they get regular quantities of airtime under their own editorial control for free.

I was the Peter Mandelson—Bryan Gould of the 1959 election. I fought a brilliant campaign and lost

Tony Benn, who devised Labour’s innovative 1959 election broadcasts, 1992¹

I’ll give you five seconds to switch over. For anyone left, here’s some Alliance propaganda.

John Cleese, opening a party political broadcast, 1987

How can you operate at an emotional level for ten minutes? You might go for the height of emotion for thirty seconds or a minute — maybe two minutes if you’ve actually got something really good like a murder taking place on screen.

Sir Tim Bell, 1992²